Terminally ill Leeds singer records song with message of hope at famous Abbey Road Studios

Jos McLaren of Morley was given the dreaded diagnosis in 2020 at the age of 41, leaving her shocked but determined to remain buoyant in the face of adversity.

A lifelong lover of music, she decided to address her health and outlook on life with a terminal illness with a song that was recorded at the famous Abbey Road Studios in London.

"I've grown up singing, my mum used to love singing so I guess it's always been a part of who I am," she said. "A lot of people write a book or a story, that's not really me.

"I've always found music to be sort of my therapy and my way of processing stuff and so I decided to write a song about my health.

"Writing it has been so helpful to me, just in terms of thinking and processing through what's been said to me, and what I think will happen and how I feel about it."

The song, titled 'Dying to Live', is a defiant one. It openly addresses her illness while declaring she is still living for tomorrow and feeling more alive than she ever has.

She hopes the song encourages others to strive to adopt a similar approach and not allow their lives to be defined by their diagnosis.

"I think we can live our lives to the best that we possibly can," she said. "None of us know how long we're here for, we don't know whether we have two years or 50 years or 100 years.

"It's about making sure that we live our lives really intentionally well, every day.

"It's a song about not giving up and just embracing life. I think everybody who's heard it so far, has kind of felt that emotion."

Jos attended an event celebrating the 90th anniversary of Abbey Road Studios and during a Q&A session, she asked a question related to her song.

Her situation caught the attention of several other attendees and she was asked by many after the show if there was anything they could do for her.

One urged Jos to send the song to her boyfriend and after doing so, she was asked to visit London to record the song.

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Little did she know, the recording session would be taking place at Abbey Road Studios, famous for hosting the likes of The Beatles, Oasis, Kate Bush and Kanye West.

"I had to shut my eyes," she explained. "When I opened my eyes, I was outside Abbey Road Studios. He said he had got some people together as well to come and play on the track.

"He just gave up their day for free just to come and help, which was just amazing."

The song is available to stream on Soundcloud now and Jos has teamed up with charities such as Cancer Support UK to promote their work using her song.